Livingston Taylor
is now working at lightning speed. It's only been four years since
There You Are Again
was issued. Before that, it had been more than a decade.
Taylor
's not exactly worried about working the circuit. Besides being a professor at the Berklee College of Music, he tours on occasion, playing prestigious festivals and folk clubs. He also commands the respect of some of the finest musicians in America (if not on the planet), and has no trouble getting them into the studio when he decides to record. Recorded in Franklin, TN,
Last Alaska Moon
is a case in point. To mention a few of the expert players who grace this album, some of his compatriots here include bassist
Leland Sklar
; drummer
Steve Gadd
; guitarists
Vince Gill
,
Chris Rodriguez
, and
J.T. Corenflos
; keyboard ace
Shane Keister
, and the backing vocals of
Andrea Zonn
. Produced by
Glenn Rosenstein
, the set includes ten originals,
"Answer My Prayer"
with
Carole Bayer Sager
, and an utterly reinvented version of
Michael Jackson
's
"The Girl Is Mine"
in duet with nephew
Ben Taylor
. The title track reflects his polished folk stylings just as
"Everybody Is Just Like Me"
walks the jazz side of adult pop and could have been recorded by
Michael Franks
with its breezy swing and slippery vocal tags. Elsewhere,
"Henry"
and
"I'm in a Pickle"
walk the bluegrass side of the fence -- the latter with
John G. McLane
's steel pan drums accompanying
Aubrey Hanie
's fiddle and
Dan Dugmore
's Dobro.
Zonn
's vocal contributions to these tracks -- she is on the vast majority of them -- cannot be understated; she is equally adept at singing jazz, blues, country, bluegrass, folk...whatever is put in front of her.
adds depth, warmth, and dimension to
's trademark tenor, which still uncannily echoes his older brother
James
.
's skill at writing classic American standard pop is on display here in
"Answer My Prayer,"
with his voice finding a phrasing that is his own yet evocative of an earlier era in American song. Fans of
will no doubt deeply enjoy this carefully crafted and artistically wrought collection. ~ Thom Jurek